Table 4.
Summary of fNIRS studies assessing antidepressant/treatment response.
| Source. | Country | Sample size (male/female) | Age (mean ± standard deviation) | Diagnostic criteria instrument | Psychopathology measure for treatment response | Treatment outcome | Medication (mg)/treatment | NIRS device/no. of channels | Duration/no. of follow-up | Paradigm | Brain area | Main finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomioka et al.2,3 (46) | Japan | MDD: 25 (3/22) | 51.9 ± 16.6 | DSM-IV | HAMD | Depressive symptoms | Imipramine (118.7 ± 67.3) | 52-Channel ETG-4000 (Hitachi) | 12 weeks | VFT | PF, T | – NIRS signals before initiation of treatment could foretell patients' clinical response upon being treated |
| Onishi et al.3 (77). |
Japan | MDD: 10 (5/5) | 71.0 ± 6.0 | DSM-IV | HAMD MMSE |
Depressive symptoms Cognitive functioning | Mianserin (2), Sodium valproate (2), Paroxetine (2), Lithium (2), Amoxapine (1), Olanzapine (3), Milnacipran (5), Maprotiline (1) | 48-Channel ETG-4000 (Hitachi) | 2 follow-ups (1 day following improvement in depressive symptoms after treatment, and another day >4 weeks later) | Rock, paper, scissors (RPS) | PF | – The more left PF cortical activity tended to ↑, symptoms of depression ↓ |
| Ohtani et al.2,3 (47) | Japan | MDD: 10 (4/6) | 39.2 ± 12.1 | DSM-IV | HAMD SASS |
Social functioning | Chlorpromazine (1), Imipramine (3), Diazepam (4) | 52-Channel ETG-4000 (Hitachi) | 6 months | VFT | PF, T | – Longitudinal variations in SASS results were correlated positively with degree of change in the right ventrolateral PF cortex and the anterior part of the T cortex activation in MDD. |
| Yamagata et al. (82) | Japan | MDD: 11 (5/6) | 36.3 ± 11.2 | DSM-IV | HAMD | Depressive symptoms | Sertraline; week 4: (29.5 ± 10.1), week 8: (61.4 ± 20.4), week 12: (65.9 ± 23.1) | 52-Channel ETG-4000 (Hitachi) | 12 weeks, 3 follow-ups (weeks 4, 8, 12) | VFT | PF, T | – NIRS may be a biological marker in MDD patients for predicting clinical response to Sertraline. |
| Masuda et al.2,3 (48) | Japan | MDD: 47 Response group to SSRIs: 28 (15/13) Nonresponse group: 19 (6/13) |
Response (48.9 ± 2.9) Nonresponse (43.2 ± 3.3) |
DSM-IV | POMS STAI DACS |
Overall functioning for response Group | Escitalopram (33), Paroxetine (7), Sertraline (5), Fluvoxamine (2) | 47-Channel ETG-7100 (Hitachi) | 12 weeks, weekly or biweekly follow-up | VFT | PF, T | Response to SSRI in MDD is predicted by different hemodynamic activities in the frontotempral cortex. |
| Feng et al.2 (49) | China | MDD: 15 (7/8) | 30.9 ± 13.5 | DSM-V | HAMD | Depressive symptoms | Music therapy, either “creative” (composing music) or “receptive” (listening to music) | 45-Channel FOIRE-3000 (Shimadzu) | 10 days, one session (60 min) a day | VFT, | PF | Music therapy could activate frontal cortex areas to improve mood and cognitive abilities |
| Aoki et al. (83) | Japan | MDD: 2 (1/1) | 24.0 ± 2.0 | ICD-10 | NA | NA | Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) with medication | 42-Channel FOIRE-3000 (Shimadzu) |
Pretest and posttest design | VFT | PF | AAT helps to stimulate prefrontal activity in MDD and the effects of AAT can be evaluated by NIRS |
| Hirano et al.2,3 (50) | Japan | MDD = 30 (11/19) | 59.4 ± 14.2 | ICD-10 | MADRS QIDS-SR MMSE |
Reduction in MADRS and QIDS-SR scores (improved functioning) | Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) | 52-Channel ETG-4000 (Hitachi) | 3x per week, till stable response | VFT | PF, T | Acute therapeutic effects of ECT on MDD patients is correlated to recovery from abnormal functional responses to cognitive tasks in frontal brain regions. |
| Takamiya et al. (84) | Japan | MDD: 33 (17/16) | 46.4 ± 11.7 | DSM-IV | HAMD | Differences between low-dose/high-dose groups in HAMD scores | High-dose group (> 1 defined daily dose, N =10), low-dose group (< 1 defined daily dose, N = 23) | 52-Channel ETG-4000 (Hitachi) | Cross-sectional study | VFT | PF, T | The dose-dependent influence of antidepressants on NIRS signals should be considered while deciphering NIRS data. |
| Shinba et al. (85) | Japan | MDD: 15 (11/4) | 45.4 ± 10.8 | DSM-IV | MADRS | Improved functioning | Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), Fluvoxamine (89.6 ± 85.8) | NIRO-3000 (Hamamatsu) | 6 weeks, 5 sessions a week | NA | PF | Maintenance of frontal activation [measured by frontal hemoglobin concentration (fHbC)] during TMS stimulation is related to effectiveness of treating MDD patients. |
| Usami et al. (86) | Japan | MDD: 10 (1/9) | 12.9 ± 0.9 | DSM-IV | DSRS | Depressive symptoms Global functioning |
NA | 2-Channel Spectratech | 6 weeks | VFT | PF | Concentration of oxy-Hb could be utilized as a state marker for changes in depressed children. |
| Payzieva & Maxmudova (87) | Uzbekistan | MDD: 5 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | OxyPrem (BORL, Switzerland) | Pretest and posttest design | Mental arithmetic task | PF | Computerized cognitive exercises may help in improve cognition of MDD patients and NIRS can be used to monitor cognitive functions. |
| Pu et al. (81) | Japan | MDD: 29 (7/22) | 72.4 ± 5.7 | DSM-IV | HAMD SASS |
Depression symptoms Social functioning | Paroxetine (10–40 mg, N = 15), Milnacipran (50–150 mg, N = 14) | 52-Channel ETG-4000 (Hitachi) | 8 weeks | VFT | PF, T | Social functioning improvements were superior in late-onset depression with initial ↓NIRS activation in the right ventrolateral PF area. |
| Downey et al.2 (51) | UK | MDD: 18 | NA | NA | NA | NA | Ketamine | 4 detectors and 24 sources MiniNTS (UCL) | NA | VFT | PF | PF cortical responses appear to be ↓in the severely depressed and additionally suppressed by ECT treatment |
| Schiffer et al. (88) | US | MDD: 10 (5/5) | 35.1 ± 7.1 | DSM-IV | HAMD HAMA |
Depression and anxiety symptoms | 4-min near-infrared (NIR) light photobiomodulation (PBM) treatment to left/right forehead | INVOS system (Somanetics) | 4 weeks, 2 follow-ups (weeks 2, 4) | Lateral visual field stimulation | PF | NIR-PBM may have uses for depression treatment |
| Eschweiler et al. (89) | Germany | MDD: 12 (4/8) | 57.0 ± 8.0 | DSM-IV | HAMD BDI |
Depressive symptoms | Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) | Four-site NIRS | 4 weeks, 4 follow-ups (weeks 1, 2, 3, 4) | Arithmetic and mirror-tracing tasks | PF | Low local hemodynamic responses predict clinical benefits of rTMS. |
2This article can also be found in the summary in Table 2.
3This article can also be found in the summary in Table 3.
MDD: major depressive disorder; HC, healthy control; HAMD, Hamilton depression rating scale; VFT, verbal fluency task; PF, prefrontal; T, temporal, F, frontal; NA, not available; MINI, Mini-international neuropsychiatric interview; DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual; ICD, International Classification of Diseases; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; SASS, school and staffing survey; POMS, profile of mood states; STAI, state-trait anxiety inventory; MADRS, Montgomery–Asberg depression rating scale; QIDS-SR, quick inventory of depressive symptomatology-self report; DSRS, dementia severity rating scale; HAMA, Hamilton anxiety rating scale.